Lionel Messi scored a filthy team goal against Sevilla in the 6-1 humiliation at Nou Camp.
Barcelona faced a huge test when they took out the field on Wednesday. Goals from Wissam Ben Yedder and Pablo Sarabia saw the Blaugrana losing the first leg 2-0 against Sevilla at Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium last week and had a heavy workload in the second leg to turn that dominant lead.
Lionel Messi was not even named in the squad sheet for the away game. However, in order to turn the tie, Ernesto Valverde confirmed that the Argentine would be part of the squad at Nou Camp. Barcelona were too hot to handle at Nou Camp as they came out as 6-1 victors to go through to the semifinals of the Copa Del Rey with an aggregate of 6-3.
The home side had two early chances, but they were not able to take an early lead within ten minutes. However, the hosts won a penalty in the 13th minute which was cooly converted by their record signing Philippe Coutinho.
Artur Melo found a peach of a ball to split the defence and find Ivan Rakitic who was making a run behind the defender. The Croatian did no mistake by just diverting the ball the ball into the back of the net despite the goalkeeper rushing to the spot in order to close him down.
Luis Suarez’s delightful ball found Philippe Coutinho who headed the ball to lead the tie for the first time. Lionel Messi’s vision found Sergio Roberto inside the box who produced an exquisite finish. Thirteen minutes after scoring, Sevilla pulled one back through Guilherme Arana to give them some hope of resuing this game. But, it was soon put beyond bed by Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi.
Out of the six goals, it was Lionel Messi’s goal at the stoppage time attracted plenty of fans. It was tiki-taka at it’s best and the away side were not able to get near them because of the speed and purpose shown by Barcelona.
Lionel Messi, who will be featuring for his national side has said that he has no intentions of ejecting the Copa Del Rey as he sees it as another major trophy.
He spoke to the Marca after the game “It was said that we were throwing the cup or that we didn’t want it. My message was misunderstood: we will fight in three competitions, as is our obligation.
“At Barcelona, we fight for everything. Before the goal, I had a couple of chances that I missed. But they [his teammates] scored others and when mine came, everything was decided. The team played great and we’re into the next round.”
With that delightful tiki-taka goal, Lionel Messi has scored 27 goals and assisted another 17 from just 26 games this season. The Argentine, who is currently the top scorer in Europe’s top leagues and second top scorer in the Champions League is aiming to lift the European trophy after struggling to reach the finals in last three years.
